Lawn sprinkler systems and sprinkler devices are well known in the art. In a conventional lawn sprinkler system, a sprinkler head may include an input port, which through a hose connection is attached to a water source (e.g., a hose bib connected to a water supply). As water is presented to the sprinkler heads, the sprinkler head (e.g., impact sprinkler, fan sprinkler) projects the supplied water a known distance in a desired pattern (e.g., circular, semi-circular, fan shaped, bubble, drip etc.)
A typical sprinkler head may further include an outlet port, which allows a second sprinkler head to be connected in series to a preceding sprinkler head. The distance of the supplied water by the sprinkler, is dependent upon the pressure of the water delivered to the input port. Thus, the distance water is projected by a single sprinkler head is greater than the distance of the sprinkler head when two or more sprinkler heads are connected in series.
Thus, as additional sprinkler heads are added in series, the water pressure delivered to each sprinkler head decreases and the distance that the supplied water is projected from each of the sprinkler heads decreases.
FIG. 1A illustrates an exemplary sprinkler system configuration 100 wherein a water source 105 is connected, through a conduit (e.g., hose, piping, etc.) 130 to sprinkler head 110. Sprinkler head 110 may be a conventional impact sprinkler, for example, that projects the supplied water, in this illustrated example, in a circular pattern, with a radius R. The distance R that the water is projected is based primarily on the water pressure that is present at the input of the sprinkler head 110. In this illustrated example, a control unit 140 connects the sprinkler heads 110 to a corresponding hose segment 120. The control unit 140 may be an manual or an automatic timer device that provides water for a predetermined time. However, it would be appreciated that the conduit 130 may be connected directed to the water source 105.
FIG. 1B illustrates an exemplary sprinkler system incorporating a plurality of sprinkler heads 110 (represented as 110a, 110b . . . 110n) connected in series through hose segments 130 (represented as 130a, 130b, . . . 130n). Each sprinkler head 110 includes an input port 115 and an output port 120, wherein a free end of a first hose segment 130a is attached to a water source 105 (e.g., hose bib) and a free end of a second hose segment 130b is attached to the output port of one sprinkler head 110a while a second free end of hose segment 130b is attached to an input port of a second sprinkler head 110b. The output port 120 of the last sprinkler head 110n is capped.
In this illustrative example of a serial irrigation system when water from the source 105 is provided to the plurality of sprinkler heads 110a . . . 110n, the pressure at the input of each of the sprinkler heads 110a . . . 110n is decreased, as water is being distributed by the prior sprinkler head in the serial line. Hence, the projection of the provided water at each sprinkler head 110, distance R′, is less than the distance when a full pressure is applied to a single sprinkler head.
Thus, a greater number of sprinkler heads is necessary to cover a large area. However, if too many sprinkler heads is placed in series, the pressure may insufficient to project the applied fluid any appreciable distance.
Generally, to cover larger areas, in-ground sprinkler systems are employed, wherein sprinkler heads 110 are typically placed in parallel groups of a plurality of sprinkler heads 110 as shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional sprinkler system 200 including a plurality of sprinkler heads 110 grouped into a plurality of sprinkler groups (or paths). In this illustrated example the conventional sprinkler system 200 is composed of three parallel groups (paths) of serially connected sprinkler heads 110. It would be recognized that the number of parallel groups of serially connected sprinkler heads may be increased or decreased without altering the principles of the conventional sprinkler system.
As discussed with regard to the serial connection of FIG. 1B, the number of sprinkler heads 110 in each serial connection is limited based on the water pressure at the output of the water source 105 as water pressure continues to decrease at each sprinkler head, as previously discussed.
Also shown is a central controller 210 that operates to control each group of sprinkler heads 110 in a time division manner, wherein one group of a plurality of sprinkler heads 110 is operated at a given time. In this conventional sprinkler system 200, the central controller 210 provides a timed release of water to each group of sprinkler heads.
Conventional sprinkler systems 200, thus, may be constructed to provide irrigation coverage of large areas as the number of groups of sprinklers 110 may be increased.
However, such systems have significant cost in their initial installation and once installed, the cost to modify the system (i.e., redirecting feedlines, sprinkler heads, etc.) is also significant.
In addition, in areas with expected cold temperatures, the installed feed lines need be drained to prevent freezing of water remaining in the feed-lines. This requires generally a sufficiently pressurized air supply to be injected into each of the feed lines, one feed line at a time, to dispense any water remaining in the feed-lines.
In conventional sprinkler systems, coverage of large area requires additional sprinkler heads or expensive in-ground systems. Hence, there is a need in the industry for a sprinkler system and sprinkler devices that provide for ease of installation, and modification and further provides for large coverage areas.